A Walk in Yosaree Park
by Peeet
Summary: 3. Do you enjoy a brain teaser? What if you had to choose between two Tardises, which one would you choose? Time travel becomes complex when the Doctor and his assistant, Ommera, rescue themselves from a small Dalek regrowth.
1. Yosaree Park

**A Walk in Yosaree Park**.

1 **Yosaree Park**.

**Arrival in the Tardis 1**.

Yosaree Park has a large Victorian style house. The previous owners of the property had stockpiled weapons to defend their property. Daleks had arrived and had prevailed rapidly. The Daleks didn't know what that type of weapon was and so had left them lying around.

_During the story, phrase mark text reveals when phrases e.g. (Phrase 1) are said and later heard. This makes it easier to track what was said and when in each part of the story__, should you want to, or you can just read for the story_.

On the planet where it is set, a large pterodactyl-like bird can be seen at times in the sky. They plague the Daleks who occasionally take a pot shot, but usually miss.

The Doctor is travelling with a sole companion, Ommera. The Doctor had met Ommera when she accidentally wandered into the Tardis thinking it was a museum! Since then she has become his companion. Today, Ommera is initially wearing jeans and a pullover.

They are about to have quite a busy day.

((Key point A in the story))

Our story starts with the Doctor arriving with Ommera in the TARDIS at Yosaree Park.

The Doctor checks the instruments and identifies the planet he has just landed on.

"Ah, Yosaree!," the Doctor exclaims excitedly, "just the place for a nice walk in the park. But the date – 54,240 AD. As I recall history, … um, it should be safe; apart from the pterodactyls. Would you like a walk in the park?"

"Sounds lovely," Ommera says.

The Doctor offers his arm for Ommera to walk with him.

The Doctor and Ommera leave the Tardis arm-in-arm.

A 'Yosaree Park' sign adorns the grass verge beside a paved path. The sign and path look poorly maintained. Yellow sheep maintain the grass.

A small group of pterodactyl-like large birds can be seen in the distance. They are large enough to lift a Dalek. The pterodactyls don't like yellow so leave the sheep alone. (Maybe the sheep have evolved there to be yellow to avoid the pterodactyls.)

As they walk they approach a building and are accosted by two Daleks.

"Exterminate!" Dalek Ag challenges.

"In here!" Ommera has grabbed the chance to dart away, the Doctor had still been on her arm. They leap to hide into the doorway of the building, a large Victorian style dwelling with a voluminous hall and several large rooms.

**The Hallway 1**.

Sparks fly from the stonework around the open door as the Doctor and Ommera rapidly go in (sound s). The Dalek might have hit them if they hadn't been so fast.

The door was wide open but broken (the Daleks really don't like closed doors!)

The Doctor says, "they'll follow us in, there's nothing to stop them. Where should we go?"

"Try in here," Ommera suggests as they run for a room on the left.

**The Room on the Left 1**.

The Doctor and Ommera enter a room at random (the room on the left) and find some form of large blaster gun that _looks_ as if it might take out a Dalek. The Doctor picks one up. This is rapidly put to the test as they hear a Dalek approaching the room looking for them.

They hide behind the door and take it by surprise. The blaster gun has no effect on the Dalek.

"Bother," the Doctor says, "it doesn't work, or did I miss?"

They escape from the room more by luck in pushing the rotating top of the Dalek so it can't face them and propelling it at moderate speed across the room where the curtains (including curtain pole) fall on it! (clanging sound p).

"This lot aren't the brightest Daleks I've seen," the Doctor observes.

As Ommera is about to leave the room she sees a rugby ball shaped thing on a shelf, she goes towards it but a noise (2nd reality) from the hallway distracts her. "Resistance is useless!" wafts in from the hallway (Phrase 1). She doesn't pick up the rugby ball shaped thing but leaves the room with the Doctor.

**The Hallway 2**.

A Dalek is entering the hallway from the room on the Right.

The Doctor points the blaster gun at the Dalek and fires it. The blaster gun fails to take it out (sound b). The Dalek stands there proud to be impervious to the weapon.

"As you see it has no effect on me!" Dalek Bo claims. (Phrase ne).

However, the Doctor uses the back end of the weapon which clunks on the Dalek's metalwork (sound c), spinning the top of the Dalek to point away from the Doctor and Ommera.

The Doctor drops the useless blaster gun.

The Doctor and Ommera mount the stairs from below (sound fa footsteps ascending), but near the top they become aware that there are three Daleks at the top of the stairs watching.

**Nearing the top of the stairs**.

At this point in the story the plot gets more complex. The Doctor and Ommera so far in the story are the first set having just arrived. From here, they meet themselves later in their timeline. To distinguish them, they are marked (1), (2) or (3) according to where in their timeline they are.

Feeling outnumbered and lacking in the possibility of the continuation of the luck that has assisted him so far the Doctor (1) sighs, "I'd do with a hand just now. (Phrase 2).

The surprised Daleks at the top of the stairs challenge them demandingly, "Where are you from? Answer!".

Without giving them time to reply, the Daleks start to herd them into a room, "Into this room!". No chance of escape, then! "You are prisoners now," a Dalek instructs, "You will go into the room. Obey!"

As they move to go in, a disturbance downstairs occurs (disturbance 1).

However, the upstairs Daleks all follow the Doctor (1) and Ommera (1) into the oak panelled room.

The interrogation starts immediately. "What are you doing?" the Daleks demand, "What is your plan?"

Sounds of squealing annoyance come from downstairs (disturbance 2).

A girl wearing a green outfit and with thick hair obscuring much of her face enters the room and throws an anti-Dalek grenade into the centre of the room. "It is ok," the girl in green says, "it will only affect the Daleks." (Phrase 7).

Silently the Daleks lose all drive; their eyes lose their light and their weapons droop. The girl is Ommera in disguise (2). She is not recognised.

Ommera (1) (not the disguised Ommera) says "Thank you. We should get out while we can" and (not the disguised Ommera) runs out of the room. (Phrase 3). Ommera (1) runs downstairs and finds a disabled (stunned) Dalek in the hall (Dalek Bo).

The Doctor (2) is standing over it. Ommera last saw the Doctor (1) upstairs before she ran down.

"H, how, how did you get here so quickly?" Ommera (1) stammers. (Phrase 4).

The Doctor (2) turns to meet Ommera (1). He realises from Ommera's attire that he is talking to the earlier Ommera (1), so he is cautious and starts planning his escape.

"You were upstairs just now," Ommera (1) explains her question a little.

The Doctor (2) recognises he ought to cover up to spare Ommera a sudden and immediate mind-boggling problem. "I'm quite surprising sometimes!" (Phrase 8).

He thinks he ought to ensure that Ommera (1) is able to defend herself properly in this dangerous environment. "The blaster gun is quite useless against the Daleks. You just want one of these." The Doctor (2) produces a small rugby ball shaped weapon.

Ommera (1) sees a similar one nearby and acquires it.

Sounds of feet (Doctor (1) and the girl in green who is Ommera (2)) coming down the upper parts of the stairs (sound fd of feet descending) cause the Doctor (2) to dive for a room (the room on the right).

The Doctor (1) (the earlier Doctor), having descended the stairs, appears behind Ommera (1) followed by the disguised Ommera (2).

Ommera (1) turns to them. "You _are_ full of surprises, Doctor!" she says. (Phrase 5).

The girl in the green disguise asks, "Where did you last see the Doctor go?" (Phrase 9).

Ommera (1) indicates the room on the right.

The disguised Ommera (2) immediately sprints into that room.

Sounds of a breaking window (sound w) followed shortly by a suitably loud explosion come from the room (sound e). (Do they always wreak such destruction?!)

**The Room on the Right 1**.

The Doctor (1) and Ommera (1) enter the room to find it empty, and the window open and broken.

The Doctor (1) rushes to the window but can only see Dalek destruction and nobody else.

The Doctor (1) turns from the window, "seems our work is all done just here. Let's have a look round."

The Doctor (1) and Ommera (1) go from the room on the right to the second room on the right.

**The Computer Room 1**.

The house is eerily quiet. They find a computer terminal, Dalek built, elaborate, small and oval.

The Doctor wants to find out what the Daleks are up to.

The Dalek computer terminal responds to the sonic screwdriver to reveal the Daleks' plans.

"Ah, that's useful," the Doctor says, not revealing them to Ommera (1). "We must go to their command ship, but shall we go for a walk in the park first?"

The Doctor (1) and Ommera (1) walk slowly arm-in-arm back to the Tardis through the park. Ommera (1) wants to know what is going on but she is patient and desists from asking the Doctor. She feels that he will tell her when he wants to.

Another group of pterodactyls can be seen in the distance.

* * *

_What has just happened? Where has a second Ommera come from? How is she there? How did she happen to rescue them? How did she even know to rescue them?_


	2. Command Spaceship

**2 Command Spaceship**.

**Back in the Tardis 2**.

((Key point Point B in the story – a reference point for later in the story.))

The Doctor (1) and Ommera (1) enter the Tardis (1). The Doctor (1) programs in some co-ordinates, the Tardis grinds and they step out into the Daleks' command spaceship.

**The Command Spaceship 1**.

There are two Daleks at a console similar to the console in the computer room on the planet.

"I can detect a faint distress signal from the planet surface," Dalek Cov says, "I am unsure what it is. I will home in on it."

The Doctor (1) rapidly realises that all their work has not been completed down on the planet surface. He grabs Ommera (1) and dashes back into the Tardis with her. "One of the remaining Daleks on the planet must have rigged up a distress signal," the Doctor (1) says urgently, "We must put it out of action before the spaceship sends reinforcements."

The Doctor (1) throws a lever on the control panel and the Tardis grinds again. He says, "I have taken us back an hour to give us some time to observe where the Daleks are and track as many of them as possible. Possibly even find where such a transmitter might be so we can neutralise it before the Dalek in the command ship can home in on it." (Phrase 6).

Ommera (1) has a question for him. "In the house, how did you arrive in the hall when you were upstairs just a moment earlier? Then how did you come down the stairs when you had just gone into the room on the left?"

The Doctor (1) does not twig that Ommera (1) has recognised one of the other people as himself.

"We weren't alone in there," the Doctor (1) says, "but I just don't know who was with us."

* * *

_Who might have been there with them_?


	3. There are Two of Us

**3 There are Two of Us**.

**Walking in the Park 3**.

At this point we change from referring to the Doctor and Ommera set 1 to being set 2.

"I think I should disguise myself," Ommera (2) says as they step out of the Tardis.

She steps back inside the Tardis and reappears wearing a disguise including green clothes, her hair different, a thick wig, obscuring much of her face, possibly worn the wrong way around on purpose.

"Ow about that then?" Ommera (2) asks in a Hackney accent.

She hands a hat to the Doctor. It is a flat cap. He puts it on. "Very funny. Well, we'd better get going then," he says gruffly, also in a slightly Hackney accent. It doesn't disguise him at all, but it had been handy in the Wardrobe section.

**Captured Again. The Hallway 5**.

They rapidly get back to the house and enter the hall. When they last left the house all the Daleks had been hit with the anti-Dalek bombs. Although the effects of that were only temporary, it is easy to forget that you have also gone back an hour in time.

Immediately they are accosted by a Dalek in the hall. "Halt. You are my prisoner now. Go into that room."

It must be obeyed, even though it isn't nearly as demanding as some of the other Daleks.

**The Room on the Right 2**.

They go into the room on the right.

There is a low shelf with some rugby ball shaped weapons on it. They are very dusty.

"You will tell me your plans," Dalek Bo demands.

"Not likely," the Doctor (2) says quietly so as not to be aggressive.

The non-aggressive approach completely fails to allure this Dalek! "You will stay here until you do!" Dalek Bo barks aggressively, "I can wait a lot longer than you can."

* * *

The stand-off lasts for a while, maybe ten minutes.

They hear the sound of Dalek weapon fire at the outer door (sound s).

Then there is a sound of clanging (sound p).

Dalek Bo is distracted and eventually goes to see what the problem is.

"Resistance is useless," Dalek Bo advises. (Phrase 1).

Moments after their guarding Dalek Bo leaves the room there is a sound of blaster weapon fire (sound b).

They hear the Dalek say, "as you see it has no effect on me." (Phrase ne).

A loud metallic clunk sounds (sound c) followed by rapid footsteps ascending the stairs (sound fa footsteps ascending).

The Doctor (2) spots some rugby ball shaped weapons on a shelf and passes one to disguised Ommera (2) and keeps one for himself. He blows the dust off each one.

"This will temporarily knock out any Dalek in the room," the Doctor says.

All this while the footsteps run up the stairs that start just outside the room door.

From near the top of the stairs someone says, "I'd do with a hand just now." (Phrase 2)

The Doctor (2) and disguised Ommera (2) quickly leave the downstairs right-hand room.

**The Hallway 6**.

What disguised Ommera (2) does:  
Disguised Ommera (2) looks up the stairs to where her earlier self (1) is ascending.  
She (2) makes a sharp intake of breath as she realises her earlier self has no weapon to drop on the floor accidentally to escape with. "Disaster! I had no weapon," she says to herself. She bounds towards the stairs.

What the Doctor does:  
The Doctor (2) deals with the Dalek in the hallway; he pushes it into an old radiator with a big clang where its weapon gets stuck in the radiator (Disturbance 1).

**The Room on the Left 2**.

The Doctor (2) goes into the first room (the room on the left) where a Dalek is trying to disentangle itself from the curtains. The Doctor (2) knows he can't get lucky in the same way twice. That Dalek is duly dealt with - the Doctor (2) pulls a cord that was once used to close the curtains; this draws the curtains tight around the Dalek who screeches with anger (Disturbance 2).

**The Upstairs Room 2**.

Meanwhile, the disguised Ommera (2) bounds up the stairs.

This time we describe the action from the disguised Ommera's (2) perspective.

The disguised Ommera (2) enters the upstairs room where the Daleks have taken their hostages and she throws an anti-Dalek grenade (the rugby ball shaped weapon) into the centre of the room.

"It is ok; it will only affect the Daleks," disguised Ommera (2) says. (Phrase 7).

She instantly recognises the earlier Doctor and her earlier self. She thinks to herself "it's just as well I disguised myself!"

Her earlier self, Ommera (1) says, "thank you. We should get out while we can" and rapidly leaves the room. (Phrase 3).

"I think she's right," disguised Ommera (2) says to the Doctor (1).

The disguised Ommera (2) and the earlier Doctor (1) walk more slowly out onto the landing.

* * *

Someone downstairs says "H, how, how did you get here so quickly?" (Phrase 4)

The reply (from downstairs) "I'm quite surprising sometimes" (Phrase 8)

The disguised Ommera (2) recognises this as the later Doctor (2) from her earlier experience as Ommera (1) who is now downstairs.

The Doctor (2) (downstairs) goes on to say, "the blaster gun is useless against the Daleks, you just want one of these."

The disguised Ommera (2) sees the earlier Doctor (1) (who is still upstairs) heading off down the stairs. She makes a lot of foot noise to alert those downstairs of their descent (sound fd of feet descending).

The Doctor (1) disapproves, "shhh, we might be heard!" he whispers.

The Doctor (2) who is already downstairs, dives for a room (the room on the right).

The earlier Doctor (1) descends the stairs and approaches earlier Ommera (1) from behind.

The disguised Ommera (2) follows him closely, hoping to avert problems.

The earlier Ommera (1) turns, having just seen the Doctor (2) go into one of the rooms, to see the Doctor (1) having apparently just descended the stairs. "You _are_ full of surprises, Doctor," she says. (Phrase 5)

Disguised Ommera wants to verify where the Doctor went. She doesn't want to go to the wrong place. "Where did you last see the Doctor go?" she asks. (Phrase 9).

The earlier Ommera (1) drops her jaw and points to the room on the right. Did she recognise someone there?

The disguised Ommera (2) immediately sprints into that room (she could have just recalled, but she needed to be certain).

**The Room on the Right 3**.

In the room on the right, when the disguised Ommera (2) enters, the Doctor (2) is just about to break a window with a chair, which he does.

"It's easier to open the window?" the disguised Ommera (2) points out.

The disguised Ommera (2) opens the (sash) window. She grabs a rugby ball to take with her.

The Doctor (2) and the disguised Ommera (2) briefly look out of the window. They immediately see a number of Daleks who have been attacked by a pterodactyl. One of the Daleks is in the clutches of a pterodactyl and is heading skywards. The other Daleks are all focussed on aiming at the pterodactyl. One shoots and the bird and Dalek fall separately to the ground heavily; a small explosion (sound e) is seen and heard where the Dalek falls.

During this time the Doctor (2) and the disguised Ommera (2) watch in humorous amazement. Then they both (2) jump out of the window (it is on the ground floor).

A rugby ball permits the Doctor (2) to take out the remaining Daleks permitting them safe passage. They run around the side of the house and run through the park to where the Tardis is parked.

* * *

_What should the Doctor do if he finds two identical Tardis's near each other_? _Which one should he choose_? _Does it matter which one he chooses_? _If so, what would be the consequences of choosing the wrong one_?


	4. The Awkward Choice

**4 The Awkward Choice**.

As they approach the Tardis the Doctor (2) notices a shadow on the ground. He moves to see what it is.

"Oh, what's that I see?" the Doctor (2) asks. He discovers that there are two Tardis's parked close to each other, but with their doorways facing away from each other, almost back-to-back.

"Oh dear!" the Doctor (2) says, "we have to choose! Which Tardis do we go in? Do you know? One is the first Tardis we arrived in, the other is when we went back in time by an hour to give us time to sort all of this out."

Neither the Doctor (2) nor the disguised Ommera (2) have any idea which is which.

The Doctor (2) starts trying to tell the disguised Ommera (2) what the consequences are if they choose the wrong one. "If we go in the right one we'll be ok, but the consequences of going into the wrong one might be colossal. There may be all sorts of time paradoxes, especially if an older ME tells a younger ME some information! Or if we affect the trip."

The disguised Ommera (2) leans back against one of the Tardises (the second Tardis) right where she will later deposit a marker.

"It is quite simple actually," the disguised Ommera (2) says, "all we have to do is go into one of them and hide. We know our earlier selves will pick the right one and will return shortly in it, so if we get in the wrong one we will go for a short trip, return and after they have left we can carry on in the correct Tardis."

"Yes, but then, after we return from the Dalek spaceship, we will have to wait until we return _now_," the Doctor (2) says, "we've seen the two Tardises side-by-side an hour after we left our last Tardis." The Doctor points at the ground to emphasise the 'now' aspect. "And then we'll have to watch ourselves choose the wrong Tardis before we can then go off in the right one… If you see what I mean."

Ommera doesn't really follow, but she pretends to. "So easy!" she says.

"If we pick the right one we only have to wait until the other Tardis disappears before we can go, the Doctor (2) says. "The real disaster is if they, our earlier selves, pick the wrong one! That might create a time loop! I could go in and look at the body time clock chronometer in each of them and choose the later one."

"Quick, they are coming," the disguised Ommera (2) says quietly. She grabs hold of the Doctor (2). "In here!"

They enter one of the Tardises at random.

**Hiding in the Tardis 3**.

The Doctor (2) and Ommera (2) hide in the Tardis (1) control room. Then she corrects herself. "Here we come; I mean!"

Of course, it makes a better story if they choose the wrong Tardis to hide in!

They (2) observe their earlier selves (1) enter the Tardis (1). See ((Key point B in the story))!

The Tardis (1) grinds and they (2) see their earlier selves (1) step out into the Dalek's spaceship.

They (2) witness their earlier selves (1) talking about the Daleks' distress signal and about the rapid transits in the house. And that they have travelled back an hour. (Phrase 6).

"We have another hour to wait until we can go anywhere safely," the Doctor (2) whispers, "or there won't be two Tardises for our earlier selves to choose from."

After their earlier selves (1) leave the Tardis, the Doctor (2) realises that they still haven't taken out all of the Daleks.

"Bother," the Doctor (2) says, "we still need to actually deal with the remnant Daleks. That distress signal still needs to be dealt with."

* * *

_It is ok for them to make the wrong choice, but what if their earlier selves had made the wrong choice, what then_?

_There would be a chronometer in the Tardis. If the Doctor had had the time to go in and read both of them and compare them, he might have known the difference_?


	5. There are Three of Us

**5 There are Three of Us**.

**Identify the Tardis**.

At this point we change from referring to the Doctor and Ommera set 2 to being set 3.

As they leave the Tardis, Ommera (3) has removed her disguise and is wearing something rather natty (to ensure that her timeline is very much more visible). The Doctor has changed hats. He prefers the red fez.

"We could put a small sticker on the outside of the Tardis," Ommera (3) claims, "so, we know which is which."

The Doctor advises, "Whatever you put on the earlier Tardis will eventually replicate itself on the later Tardis. You could put different coloured markers on each Tardis and see which way the marker replicates itself."

"Where is the other Tardis?" Ommera (3) asks. "It's gone!"

"Of course, it's gone," the Doctor (3) says. "Our earlier selves moved it, and it landed here. We're now in the later Tardis."

There is a sound of the Tardis (1) screeching. They walk to be behind some bushes.

"Here comes the first Tardis," the Doctor (3) continues, "it's only us arriving here."

They watch their earlier selves (1) walking away from the Tardis (1).

Ommera suggests, "We could paint a small number "1" on the first Tardis and a small number "2" on the second Tardis, so that when we return we can identify it."

"Nice idea," the Doctor (3) says, amused, "can we downgrade to a sticker?" he suggests, to spare having to clean up the Tardis later.

Ommera applies a "1" sticker to the visible right-hand side of the earlier Tardis, and a "2" sticker to the visible left-hand side side of the second Tardis.

"When will the _One_ sticker replicate to the later Tardis?" Ommera (3) asks.

"Oh, in about an hour's time," the Doctor (3) replies.

"Then we'll see the two stickers beside each other!" Ommera (3) strides into the Tardis leaving the Doctor (3) talking to himself. "Actually, er, no. The _One_ sticker will be on the other side? On the right-hand side? This is the left-hand side…"

The stickers aren't very sticky and soon fall off.

Ommera (3) returns still wearing the natty number and produces a natty handbag which she has hanging from her shoulder. She retrieves from the handbag a lump of something like blu-tak. She puts a small marker blob in a noticeable position, and they walk off.

* * *

_Would any of Ommeras Tardis marking ideas work_?


	6. Time Vantage

**6 Time Vantage**.

The Doctor (3) and Ommera (3) are walking arm-in-arm in the park.

"We should lie low while the destruction in the house takes place," the Doctor advises, "we were lucky to get out of there. There are actually three of each of us on this planet just now! Think of that!"

They sit down on a sunny grassy slope.

"Let's just sit here while we wait," the Doctor (3) says. "What do you want to do with your future? What were you aiming to do before I came along?"

"It all seems so pointless now," Ommera (3) sighs, "all of what I wanted to do." She puts her arm round the Doctor (3) and cuddles up to him. "I am so enjoying travelling with you. Thank you."

The Doctor (3) puts his arm round Ommera (3) and smiles. "It can be dangerous."

"True, but amazing," Ommera says. "It would be wonderful to find a nice place to be together. A bit of peace and quiet for a while."

Ommera (3) puts her hand on the Doctor's (3) chest to pet him.

The Doctor can allow this for a short time, but he is aware that the calls on him are frequent just to keep up with those who would harm those he is protecting. He is also aware that all relationships have to end, and for him, he has to go on afterwards.

"My lifestyle may not permit me to stay around in one place for very long," the Doctor (3) says, "much as I might like to."

"What are you planning to do?" Ommera (3) asks.

"Planning?" the Doctor (3) exclaims, "It just happens! Planets to defend. Offensors to placate. This is what happens."

"What would happen if you didn't?" Ommera (3) asks, lazily.

Ommera (3) runs her hand further up the outside of the Doctor's (3) shirt.

The Doctor (3) puts his hand on Ommera's (3) hand, partly to control but partly to affirm.

"You remember what it was like when I was just a bit late?" the Doctor (3) asks gently, "we nearly lost your home planet, Slint. Having a time machine doesn't mean you can just waltz up when you like and win all the time." In the previous episode, _Lateness_, they had only just arrived in time to save Ommera's home planet, Slint.

"Yes. That's true," Ommera (3) sighs, "but it wouldn't always be like that?"

"It can be a bit like that – intense", the Doctor (3) owns, "Then I might get a break and be able to do some Tardis repair work."

Ommera (3) leans and kisses the Doctor (3) briefly.

"But it's never for long," the Doctor (3) says. "I do like you, very much. But I don't think it would be fair on you. Either you would always be in danger if you travelled with me, or you would be bored at home, waiting me to come home. Sometimes I don't get a break for months."

"That's just what seafarers' wives have to go through," Ommera (3) says. "I'd like to think about that. See if it would be alright."

"What else do I have to do?" the Doctor (3) asks rhetorically. "I have to try to avoid meeting myself. If I ever meet myself on my own timeline, things become very precarious. Did you notice I flung myself out of the hall earlier when I realised I might have a near miss? Just think what could happen if I gave myself even a hint of what the future might hold."

"So how did our second selves come to rescue our earlier selves from capture?" Ommera (3) asks.

This is a deeper question than at first appears. The Doctor (3) feels he must at least try to convey how things might have happened. "It's a second reality," he starts, "how did you know in your second self in the hallway, when our earlier selves were going up and approaching the top of the stairs; how did you _know_ that you needed to grab that rugby ball shaped weapon, dash upstairs and throw it into the room? Answer me that then."

"I just knew," Ommera (3) replies, "I had a gut-wrenching conviction that I absolutely _must_ do that…"

"How did you _know_ though?" the Doctor (3) asks more quietly.

"I've no idea. I knew then, though," Ommera (3) owns. "I must have known something then that I don't know now?"

"Yes!" the Doctor (3) exclaims, "something that you knew from your first reality; before we changed it. Maybe…?"

"Tardis? Can we use two TVs please?" asks the Doctor (3).

Even though they are a few yards outside the Tardis, the Tardis is able to respond and projects two images near the Doctor for them to see.

"It's the Tardis TV – _Time Vantage_ system," the Doctor (3) says. "Can we see the first reality in the first room we went into, and then the second reality, please?"

Ommera stops petting the Doctor to see the images that appear above them.

The Tardis shows them scenes from the first reality on the left-hand image.

In the first reality sequence, in the first room, Ommera (1) picks up a rugby ball shaped weapon from a shelf. The first reality pauses. In the second reality (on the right-hand image) she (1) had _gone towards it_ but had been distracted by a noise in the hallway ("Resistance is useless", Phrase 1) and had omitted to pick it up. The second reality pauses.

They chat about it.

The Doctor points to the left image. "In the first reality, you would have armed yourself."

He points to the right image. "In the second reality you didn't."

"I was going to pick up the rugby ball shaped weapon, but I was distracted by a noise in the hallway," Ommera (3) says. (The distracting noise was Phrase 1).

"That was the Dalek that was guarding us in our second time round," the Doctor (3) says. "That Dalek wouldn't have been in the house otherwise to make that noise. What small things can make such a large difference later."

"So maybe I picked it up first time round?" Ommera (3) says.

"Let's continue," the Doctor requests.

The first reality sequence continues. In the first reality, Ommera had stuffed the weapon up her jumper concealing it about her person. She figured that the Daleks would spot a weapon in her hand and would have dealt with her peremptorily.

"What?" Ommera (3) exclaims, "I stuffed it up my jumper?"

The first reality sequence continues. When they were shown into the room upstairs the weapon had accidentally fallen out and detonated, unexpectedly releasing them from their captors!

Ommera (1) had been most surprised when that happened. "Oops! What _is_ that thing I dropped? What happened to the Daleks?"

"What happened in the second reality?" the Doctor (3) asks.

Ommera (3) deduces, "When my later self looked up from the hall and saw my earlier self nearing the top of the stairs, I instantly realised the lack of bulge meant my earlier self wasn't carrying the weapon to release us (perchance), so I knew our earlier selves would need assistance. So, I ran to give the assistance."

The Doctor (3) waves the images away.

"How does the _Time Vantage_ know what reality it is from?" Ommera (3)asks.

"It just knows, I suppose," the Doctor (3) says. "The Tardis has been here the whole time, it keeps an eye on everything, including the translation. Sorry, I have to admit I didn't design the _Time Vantage_ system, I just use it."

**How can you tell if you have experienced an alternative reality**?

From this point we drop referring to the Doctor and Ommera being set 3 as they don't meet, refer to or interact with any of the other sets of themselves.

The Doctor and Ommera are still sitting on the grassy slope.

"You see, second or third or Nth reality is all around us," the Doctor starts off victoriously. "All we are sometimes left with is a vague memory of some irrational behaviour based on some now non-existent knowledge that at that instant drove us to extreme lengths."

"So… that's how our second selves rescued our first selves," Ommera says.

"You rescued me," the Doctor says thoughtfully.

"You should never travel alone!" Ommera scolds fiercely.

* * *

The Doctor invites us all to consider his next point. "How often do you have memories about something that happened where you knew what you had to do no matter how insane, you did it, but later on (now that is), you have no idea why you did it? Things where you have no idea how or why you did something?"

The Doctor leans closer to Ommera. "Spooky!" he whispers.

The reader is thereby invited to think whether they have had any such experiences. Most people have some semi-remembered experience they might connect with. It is normally, however, unlikely that such recollections have anything to do with second reality!

"How did you get away with not only _meeting_ yourself but _rescuing_ yourself (and me)?" the Doctor asks chidingly. "When you interact with yourself in time travel there is a serious risk of …"

Ommera interrupts to defend herself. "I only fulfilled what happened in the first reality. The second reality had already started to go wrong because of the presence of our second selves… so I fixed it."

"Ah, I suppose that excuses it?" the Doctor scolds gently.

"It fixes it?" Ommera defends herself hopefully.

"I suppose it did," the Doctor sighs. "You know, you _can_ get into a right mess where eventually you expend greater and greater efforts to fix problems in earlier realities and eventually it all falls apart as unfixable." The Doctor becomes more triumphal as he continues, "then you find you can't remember what happened in the earlier realities. If you can't remember it, you can't fix it! Basic timeline stuff!"

"Oh dear," Ommera groans. She concludes that it is better not to argue.

* * *

_Oh dear, we guess that the Doctor knows best. But it is all much more complex than it at first appears_.


	7. The First Reality

**7 The First Reality?**

The Doctor and Ommera are still sitting on the grassy slope.

"I wonder what we went on to do in the first reality?" Ommera asks, changing the subject.

"Could have been anything," the Doctor conjectures dismissively. "Snogging in one of the downstairs rooms…"

"As if you'd have been so lucky!" Ommera retorts light-heartedly.

"Dalek wrestling with our bare hands…" the Doctor continues.

"That's more like it," Ommera says, "we did a bit of that, but you've told me that Daleks are much more dangerous than that!"

"This lot probably aren't even fitted with working weapons," the Doctor says.

"Yes, they are," Ommera contradicts, "that one near the doorway when we entered at first made quite a mess of the doorway!"

The Tardis thoughtfully re-displays an image, this time showing the sparks at the doorway. Then the image fades out.

"That's true," the Doctor owns, "but the rest of them were happier not to use theirs. Maybe they're short of power? Or maybe we went back to the Tardis to look for their space station."

"So simple as that?" Ommera says. "But we didn't know about that then."

"Could have been. They always have one," the Doctor says. "The second reality only instigated when the Dalek distracted you in the first room. By that time our later selves had been to the space station and had returned an hour earlier… That might have been my worst mistake of the day."

The Doctor sighs and looks glum.

**Conclusion**.

The Doctor and Ommera hear an explosion (sound e).

"We should now take out any remaining Daleks," Ommera says.

They set off towards the house by a different route round the back, avoiding their previous selves. They climb in through the window in the Room on the Right. The Doctor picks up a rugby ball, just in case.

**The Hallway 8**.

The Doctor and Ommera enter the hallway where they find a Dalek recovering. It has managed to free its weapon from the radiator, and the damaged weapon dangles forlornly.

The rugby ball quickly stuns the Daleks that they find, permitting them to gain safe access to the computer room in the house.

**Return to the Computer Room 2**.

The Doctor throws a few switches on the Dalek's console there.

"That should interrupt their distress signal," the Doctor says. He plugs in a memory chip.

"I want to know whether that was effective," the Doctor continues. "I'm programming it with the co-ordinates of their spaceship. Then we can maybe listen in to what happens as a result… Bother, I can't get any signal. It may need one of the Daleks on the spaceship to acknowledge before we could hear. By that time, they will know it's us here… It won't be long before the Daleks regain consciousness and want to exterminate us two. We had better get moving."

In their hurry to depart, the Doctor accidentally leaves his memory chip type of thingy behind, still plugged in.

Groaning sounds start to come from the hallway (the Daleks are recovering). Ommera opens a window in the computer room. "We'd better go this way," she says.

They leave by the window.

"We seem to keep on leaving by the window," the Doctor quips. "A most extraordinary day."

* * *

_Will it matter that the Doctor left his memory chip behind_?


	8. Command Spaceship 2

**8 Command Spaceship 2**.

**Walking in the Park 4**.

They walk back through the park towards the Tardis.

Back at the Tardis they observe only one Tardis.

The reader may recall that Ommera has previously leant on the Tardis, accidentally removing the marker blob left earlier.

Ommera looks for the marker blob and turns pale. "Doctor – it isn't the right Tardis!" she almost whispers.

"Well, it's the only one we've got, so we'll have to take it!" says the Doctor pragmatically. "What makes you think it's the wrong one?"

"The marker blob I put on it isn't on this one," Ommera says.

"Ah, well, erm, yes, it might have been wiped off?" the Doctor suggests.

"Who would do that here?" Ommera asks alarmed.

"Oh, these things happen," the Doctor clearly isn't worried. "Where's your green disguising jacket from earlier?"

They go into the Tardis.

Ommera picks up her disguising jacket from earlier, it was just thrown on a chair.

The Doctor examines the back of her disguising jacket that she was wearing earlier. The marker blob is now deposited on her jacket. "Definitely!" the Doctor says gently. "The best laid plans sometimes come to nothing!" He tries to let her down gently. "Now to the command spaceship!" the Doctor exclaims. "We must check that we were successful."

**The Command Spaceship 2**.

On the Dalek's command ship, their re-entrance closely follows their previous exit. The Tardis is easily able to arrange this. They open the door and look out.

"Nothing to trace now," the Dalek at the console says lazily.

The Daleks roll off lazily to some other part of the ship.

**Retreat to the Tardis 5**.

The Doctor and Ommera retreat into the Tardis.

"They currently have a policy error," the Doctor tells Ommera. "They will automatically escalate the fire power each time they are fired on without checking who is firing on them. It's how they operate these days. They really should amend that policy. They might harm themselves!"

The Doctor feels in his pocket. "Bother. I've left my memory chip somewhere."

"You didn't leave it on their spaceship," Ommera says, "you must have left it on the ground console."

"I don't know if it will matter," the Doctor says. "There was a challenge on it to stop exterminating everything else."

"That shouldn't do any harm," Ommera says.

The Doctor strokes his chin in thought. He speaks slowly. "That depends who hears it. If a Dalek hears it they will assume it is spoken by a non-Dalek."

"That should be ok?" Ommera says.

"Then they might lock onto the transmission co-ordinates to see where the origin of the transmission is," the Doctor says.

"Ok?" Ommera says.

"Then they may fire at will," the Doctor continues surmising.

"Oh, dear. Not so good," Ommera says.

"That comes of being xenophobic," the Doctor says. "Then their faulty policy may take over, escalating fire power each time."

"No!" says Ommera disbelievingly, "but the escalation is all theirs."

"We had better get out of here," the Doctor says.

The Doctor presses a single key and pulls a lever.

The Tardis grinds. It materialises in space near the Dalek command spaceship.

On one Tardis monitor, the Dalek command spaceship is shown drifting idly through space, top left. A split screen shows the ground station bottom right.

The command spaceship is shown to fire upon the ground station with a suitable sound. Incoming fire to the command spaceship is shown. The command spaceship is shown to return fire. Further incoming fire is shown. The return fire becomes incessant.

The two Dalek facilities simultaneously explode.

"I'm glad _**I**_ didn't pull the trigger," the Doctor says. "That little lot really should look to see what's firing on them before they respond! They really should learn to tidy up after themselves as well. All that space junk. Not very green!"

"Doh, I'll tidy up," the Doctor says. "Which switch turns on the external electromagnet?"

THE END

* * *

_Information note: The previous episode_ _in this series__ is called "Lateness"_.  
_To search for it, please search for "scarifiers" as scarifiers tried to start mining Ommera's home planet, Slint_.

_The next episode_ _in this series is called "Step Carefully"_.


End file.
